Sora ni koete - Beyond the sky
by Shion-Ai Misaki
Summary: Have you ever wondered how the next generation of the Karasuno Volleyball Club would look like? Join Sora Kageyama, Mayuri Kuroo, Akane and Akira Bokuto, Yuri Haiba, Konoe Tanaka and many more on their path to become "The Best Karasuno Team Ever". Will they surpass their parents' team? Could they even become as famous as the 'Little Giant? Find out. A story of their daily lives.
1. Chapter 1 - Wake up!

Sora ni koete – Beyond the sky

Chapter 1 – Wake up!

"Oi! Sora! Wake up already or you'll be late!"

"Mmmm…"

"Sora!"

"Five more minutes dad…"

"OI! Sora! I said to _wake up_! Airhead!" dad said as he pulled away my bed sheets. I was forcefully pulled of the dream I was having. I was dreaming that I was walking around in a country made out of clouds and on the trees of that country cute looking milk cartons were growing from them. And just as I wanted to take one dad got in my way.

"Aaawww, bye bye milk cartons." I said disappointed.

"What?!" dad was visibly confused, I couldn't blame him.

"My dream, you interrupted it and-"

"Whatever, get ready or you'll be late for school. Your mother has already made your lunch box, so get going!"

"O-ossu." I gave up, then he wouldn't know what my dream was about. Dad left my room and I fell back on my bad. It was the first day of the new school year, I'd be a Second Year in High School now.

"Soraaa, are you up already?" I heard mom calling from the kitchen. When he started asking that then it meant I was really almost late for school. I had to hurry. I quickly got off my bed and rushed to the bathroom, but when I wanted to open the door it was closed.

"Occupied." I heard a voice from across the door.

"Aoi, hurry up, I'm late." I said.

"Please, it's your fault for oversleeping, not mine. So wait." she said.

"Aoi please."

"I'm your elder sister, so you'll have to wait, So-ra-chan."

"You're still shorter than me, though, A-o-i-chan." And as soon as I finished my sentence the door sprung open in a split second.

"What did you say?!" Aoi was now standing in front of me.

"Nothing!" I said as I grabbed her by her waist, lifted her and moved her out of my way to quickly enter the bathroom myself.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, nee-san."

"Aoi, don't start fighting with your brother first things in the morning." I heard mom saying.

"But. He. And I."

"Let go of it Aoi, he's being late and you're ready already, aren't you? So get going." he said to Aoi. Mom was always on my side concerning things like these, because I was the youngest of us three siblings.

"Fine! I'll be going now, bye!" Aoi said and after that I heard our front door being opened and closed again.

After some minutes I left the bathroom, put on my clothes and got ready to leave the house as well. As I headed to the kitchen Hana seemed to have woken up too.

"Morning Hana!"

"Shut it Sora." she said in a calm voice as she entered the bathroom.

"Whoa, gloomy as always, I see."

"Forgive her, she's been studying all night long again." mom said.

"College life sure is hard, huh?"

"Apparently, but she's exactly like your father when I met him."

"And you _still_ married him? Fascinating."

"Oh that's a long story, but not for now. Here's your lunch box, Sora." mom said as he gave me my lunch box.

"Thanks. I'll be going now!" I said as I opened our front door.

"BYE DAD!" I yelled.

"TAKE CARE SORA!" he replied yelling.

I was ready for a new year!

* * *

"Goooooooood moooooorning woooorld!" was the first thing I heard when I woke up. Actually, it was the thing that _made_ me wake up. Akane was on high spirits again. Like she always was.

"Akane, gimme another five minutes please." I tried to cover my head with my pillow. But Akane was faster and grabbed my pillow, throwing it across our room.

"Wakey wakey Akira! It's time for a new year at school!" she was almost yelling, and that in the morning.

"Akane, it's way too early for that."

"Come on lil' bro!"

"Akane you're my twin sister, we're the same age, how many times do I need to repeat it?"

"But I'm still taller than you, am I not?"

" _That_ has got nothing to do with our age."

"Whatever! Come onnn! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, it's such a-" Akane didn't finish her sentence because our bedroom door was opened unexpectedly and dad was standing there.

"-such a wonderful day! Right kids?!" he said. He actually had finished Akane's sentence.

"Morning dad!" Akane said while moving her arms upwards.

"Morning Aka-chan!" dad said while doing the same and both ended up doing a high-five. Why had I been born into this family?

"Okay everyone, calm down. It's too early for this." mom said as he entered our room.

"Aw, come on Keiji! Their new year starts today and-"

"Koutarou no."

"But…"

"No." mom always won in these kind of situations.

"Sorry mom." Akane apologised.

"It's okay. Should I prepare breakfast? What do you want?" mom asked.

"PANCAKES!" Akane and dad said simultaneously. Mom had to giggle.

"Alright then, let's go to-"

"Could you all just _friendly_ move your asses out of here, I'm trying to sleep for another ten minutes if that'd be okay?" I yelled through my other pillow. I always used two pillows in the case Akane would throw one through our room. She did that quite often.

"Don't be mad if there are no more pancakes left, Aki-chan." dad said.

"I think I'll survive, thanks." I said and the three of them finally left.

I sighed loudly and wanted to go back to sleep, but I was already too awake and failed.

"What a great first day of the new school year…" I said to myself while getting up from my bed and getting ready for the day.

* * *

"Ohh…" I whispered when I woke up, noticing that I had fallen asleep with my earphones in. I had been listening to music to fall asleep and apparently did without removing them, like always. I removed them and looked at my phone's screen, it still was at 53%. It's always somewhere between 45% and 60%, so 53% was a rather good outcome. With my left arm I looked for the charging cable on my bedside table and when I found it I plugged in my phone and started charging it. And then I could look at all the new messages I had received during the night. That was my daily routine after waking up.

And then suddenly I received a new text message. It was from mom.

[Are you awake, Mayuri?] mom asked.

[Yes, why?]

[Breakfast will be ready in five minutes.]

[Okay, thanks. I'll be there.]

[Good. Today's your first day of the new year, right?]

[Yes.]

[Enjoy it, see you later.] and with that mom stopped writing. And after browsing around the internet for some time I got up and went to the kitchen, taking my phone with me. When I entered I was expecting mom, but instead I saw dad.

"Morning sweetie." he said.

"Good morning dad, where's mom? I thought he made breakfast?" I asked him.

"Nah, Kenma's still in bed, so I made it for you. I hope you like toast."

"Oh mom please…"

"Well… So! Anyway, excited for the first day as a Second Year, Mayuri?"

"Not really, maybe a bit?" I said as I took a first bite of my toast and scrolled down a webpage on my phone.

"Really? But now you'll have new juniors, maybe some will enter the volleyball club and you can use them as your servant-I mean, maybe you'll find new… friends?"

"At least you tried." I said as I patted him on his shoulder.

"Hey. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing at all, daddy."

"Mayuri, you know what I think of you calling me like that, don't you?"

"Yes. You love it."

"Yes! So call me again?"

"Nope."

"Come on sweetie."

"I said no."

"I see, you're already busy with your phone, huh? Who are you texting with? With your crush?" I choked on my milk when I heard what he had just said.

"I-I don't have a c-crush…" I said nervously.

"Oh really? Not even Lev's son?" he said and made me cough, I had tried to drink again.

"Wh-wh-what ware you s-saying? I-it's not like I like him or anything, don't be stupid." I noticed how I started blushing.

"You sure 'bout that?"

"O-of course!" I said as I took a last bite of my toast.

"Thanks for the food, dad!" I stood up and rushed back to my room and fell back on my bed again, I still had some time left. Dad wasn't allowed to know about my crush, that'd be the end of me. And just as I was thinking of him I got a text message.

[Morning Mayuri.]

"YURI!" I screamed and quickly covered my mouth with my hand. Yuri had written. I needed to act normal and write back.

[Heeeey Yuri, what's up?]

[Not much, just wanted to ask you if you're ready for the new year.]

[Sure, let's do our best!]

[Cool! I'll wait for you at the same place so we can walk together to school, laters.]

['Kay!] was my calm answer but…

"Ahhhhhhhh-" I started screaming but stopped quickly when I noticed what I was doing. Before I could calm down I got another text message.

[Mayuri, don't scream in the morning, I'm trying to sleep.] it was from mom.

* * *

"Good morning my little princes-" was my old man's attempt on waking me up, but before he could finish his sentence I had already thrown a pillow into his face.

"I'm not in the mood, dad." I said to him, now hiding underneath my bed sheets.

"Oi, come on Konoe, it's your first day, you can't be late today!"

"Challenge accepted."

"Konoeeeee…"

"Yeeeeees?"

"Do I have to bring your mother and-"

"Okay I'll get up!" I said as I jumped out of my bed. I didn't want to deal with mom this early in the morning, she could be very scary sometimes when we didn't do what she asked of us.

"Good. Breakfast's ready, so come down, okay?"

"Sure." I stood up and stretched. And after opening the windows I walked to the other side of my room and woke up my two princes.

"Morning Rai, morning Asato." I said to my cats while petting them. I loved them more than anything else on the world. As always I got lost in petting them and forgot everything around of me, I probably would've come late to school too if Kazuya wouldn't have knocked on my door.

"Konoe?" he said as he opened the door.

"Huh!?" I said angrily for being interrupted.

"Don't skip practice today." was the only thing he said before leaving my room again.

" _That_ was it?! Are you for real Kazuya?!" I yelled at the door. Kazuya was my cousin. My mom, me, my old man, his elder sister Saeko, her husband Akiteru und their son Kazuya were all living in one house. And because of that Kazuya is more like an elder brother to me, and it's nice to have one, although he's the most emotionless person I have ever met.

After some more minutes of petting my cats I decided to get changed and go down to eat breakfast.

"Morning y'all." I said. Everyone was already sitting there and staring at me.

"W-what?" I asked curiously.

"Excited for the new school year, Konoe?" Saeko asked.

"Not really, why should I?"

"Now you're in Second Year, isn't that a unique experience?" Akiteru asked.

"Being in First was unique too, am I wrong uncle?"

"N-no, certainly not."

"See?" I said as I sat down.

"Kazuya, make sure that Konoe doesn't skip practice today." my old man said to Kazuya. Why did everyone in this family think I'd be skipping practice? Only because I did that now and then didn't mean I'd do it on the first day of school already. At least I had promised myself I wouldn't. Hopefully.

"I won't skip, okay?" I said to everyone.

"We'll count on you, Kazuya." mom said.

"Mom! Now even you?"

"It's only for your best, Konoe."

"Yeah sure, that's what they all say. I'm not hungry, I'll get going now-" was what I wanted to say, but mom didn't let me.

"Konoe, eat your breakfast."

"But I'm not-"

"Konoeee…" I didn't like it when she said my name with _that_ tone of voice, no one did. It sent chills right down your spine and you wouldn't dare to deny her words. She had a powerful weapon.

"Yes ma'am." I said as I silently sat down again.

"Oh my little princess is afraid of her mo-" dad wanted to say before I stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth.

"Ahaha, but apparently she's not afraid of you, Ryu." Saeko said while laughing.

"Kiyokoooo…" dad wanted mom's help. How pitiful.

"Konoe, don't do that to your father." she answered. And my old man answered with a grin.

"Thank youuu sweet-" he was about to thank her, but she interrupted him.

"Ryuunosuke, start eating too." mom was scolding dad, a daily scene.

"Yes ma'am." he said quietly as he started eating as well.

* * *

"Today is gonna be a good day!" I said to my reflection in the mirror. That was my method to cheer me on. I had been nervous for quite some time already, after all, I would attend High School from that day on. And the first year in High School was always something special, that's what I've been told by my friends anyway. And because of that I had decided to go to the High School my parents attended, to the school where they met each other, to the school where my father started playing volleyball; to Karasuno High School.

I came to the conclusion that talking to my reflection for 15 minutes was more than enough and left the bathroom to join mom and dad, they were already eating breakfast.

"Good morning Shinichi, are you ready?" mom asked me out of the blue.

"I… I hope so." I said.

"Don't be nervous, you'll survive." dad said.

"Well, I _hope_ so." I said again, emphasizing that I didn't really want to die on my first day of High School. Mom and dad both started laughing.

"Oh, Hitoka? Did you buy what we talked about the other day?" dad asked mom as she was finishing my lunch box.

"Of course, it's on the table in our room. Would you go get it, Tadashi?" mom asked dad.

"Okay." he said as he stood up.

"What did you buy?" I asked while taking a bite from my toast.

"Something for you, Shinichi. A little present for starting High School." mom said with a smile.

"Wh-what?"

"Tadashi was so excited when he heard that you wanted to go to Karasuno and that you even wanted to join the volleyball club and because of that…" mom started explaining and dad returned to the kitchen.

"… we thought you'll need a new pair of sports shoes, so… here you go." dad said grinning while handing me a new pair of shoes he was holding. My eyes widened and I started talking with my mouth full.

"Awesome! Thank-"

"Shinichi, watch your manners." mom said. I swallowed and started talking again.

"Thank you so much! I can't wait to have the first practice!" I was really looking forward to it, I hoped that the current team would accept me. Rumours said that the current Karasuno Volleyball Club was one of the strongest that had ever existed, nearly on the same level as the teams with the so-called 'Small Giant' and the 'Strongest Decoy'. So I really wanted to join, I wanted to become part of something that people would still be talking about in the future, that was my dream and the first step consisted of joining the volleyball club.

With that in mind, I got ready and headed out.

"I'll be going now!" I said as I opened the front door.

"Show them your strength, son!" dad said.

"Ossu!" and with that I closed the door and started walking towards my dream.

* * *

[A/N: Hello, this is Shion talking. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I just wanted to let you know, that there will be six protagonists, each of them having their own point of view. There's Sora Kageyama, the main protagonist. But also Akira (and Akane) Bokuto, Mayuri Kuroo, Konoe Tanaka, Shinichi Yamaguchi and a sixth one you haven't met yet will be protagonists. And whenever a perspective changes, I'll symbolize that with a horizontal line, that's the best I can do on here. I hope it's not confusing, if it is, let me know. Okay. That's it, Shion off.]


	2. Chapter 2 - Welcome to Karasuno

Sora ni koete – Beyond the sky

Chapter 2 – Welcome to Karasuno

[Good morning darling.] I wrote.

[Daiki I thought I told you to stop calling me that.] he answered.

[Oh come on Akira.]

[Anything else you wanted to tell me?]

[Only that I love you.]

[I see. Well, I wish you a good day.] were Akira's last words of the morning. I love it when he acts that shy, he's the cutest boyfriend one could wish for.

"Ugh, I wanna puke already." a voice said.

"I wish you a very pleasant morning too, my dear Hana." I said to Hana.

"Do you really need to be so lovey-dovey in the morning? I can barely look at it." she was as grumpy as ever.

"You don't like it?" I asked.

"No, not if Daiki is texting his boyfriend first thing in the morning."

"Wow you talked about me in the third person, you really must be pissed. Didn't sleep enough?"

"No I did not, I had work that had to be done, remember?"

"Ah right." I didn't really remember, I just played along. You don't want to get on Hana's bad side, not when she's angry. And certainly not when she's angrier than normally.

"Can we go now?" Hana asked as she opened the door and sat down in the car. When our classes started at the same time I'd drive her to the university, that's what best friends are for was her reason behind it, although she never did something in return for me.

"Sure, let's go! So, how was your morning?" I tried to start some kind of small talk.

"Not delightful."

"Awww, why?" I started driving.

"Basically, you are the second idiot full of energy that I met today." she said. I knew she meant it in the 'friendly' kind of way.

"Was Sora being… how do you call it? Was he being 'disgustingly cheerful' again?"

"Yeah, just like you some moments ago." she knew how to brighten one's day. Isn't she lovely?

"Well I'm sorry that _my_ love life is as bright as blossoming cherry trees whereas _yours_ looks like a withering weeping willow." I said to her with a smirk on my face.

"Tch."

"Ah! Ouch, H-Hana, don't pull at my h-haAAIr-ouch!" she was being suicidal, considering that I was driving. She really didn't sleep this night.

"Look where you're driving, you wanna kill us?"

"Excuse me for being bothered by your pulling at my hair."

"Weakling."

"Now you ruined my hairstyle."

"What _style_?" she said with a slight smile.

"Hey. It took me 15 minutes to style my hair and-"

"15 minutes?! For _that_? Oh lord, you need to take lessons." she started laughing.

"Are you laughing at me?!" my plan worked.

"No, only at your failed attempt of styling your hair." she said as she kept on laughing more and more.

"Well at least it made you laugh." I said smiling.

"Oh gosh, you're right. Your dumbness is infectious. I'm done for, right?"

"You're an idiot, do you know that?" I said.

"I'm learning from the one and only master, Daiki-sensei." she said and we both started laughing. Suddenly I heard a noise.

"Hana, you're phone's ringing." I said to her while calming down.

"Oh, you're right." she said as she took her phone out of her bag.

"Who's it?"

"Sora."

"Weird. What does he want?"

"I don't know." she said as she answered the call. Apparently Sora was telling her something, she was only listening.

"WHAT?!" she yelled into her phone. I startled. What had happened?

* * *

"Ah, don't yell at me, it's not my fault that mom put your lunch box into my bag and now you don't have one." I said to my sister while holding the phone away from my ear.

"How do you suppose I'll survive today?" she said.

"I'm sorry?" I didn't know what I was supposed to say.

"Oh you better be! Also-not now Daiki, this is important and-"

"Oh, Daiki's there? HELLO DAIKI!" I yelled into my phone.

"SORA!" Hana yelled back.

"I'm sorry."

"Sora, gimme your phone for a while." Akira said to me and I did as he asked.

"Hello, Hana-san? Would you let me talk to Daiki please? Yes. Yes. Thank you." Akira was now talking to Hana through my phone.

"Hi. Daiki? Buy lunch for Hana, okay? Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you, love you too. Bye." were Akira's last words before he hung up and handed my phone back to me.

"Fascinating." I said.

"I know right? Akira knows how to handle his boyfriend." Akane said.

"Enough of it, can we get to school already? We're gonna be late." Akira said while he started walking again. And thus the three of us continued our walk towards school, like every morning.

"Ahhh, I am so excited, aren't you guys excited as well?" Akane asked out of the blue.

"Excited? Why?" Akira answered.

"To meet new people! New team mates maybe! New friends! New rivals! New things! New experiences! New strategies! New-"

"What do you think, Sora?" Akira ignored his sister's listing of new things and turned towards me.

"I… uhm… yes, I think I'm excited, kind of. I'm curious, but it's nothing special." I told him.

"I see."

"You know, I always ask myself how far we'll reach." I said as I looked skywards.

"How far?"

"Yes! Like, how far will we go in our Karasuno career? How far will we reach? Will we reach our parents' level? Or will we even surpass that level? Maybe we'll surpass even the Small Giant's level, maybe we'll _fly_ even higher than that, farther than that. Fly to somewhere beyond the sky. All those questions are swirling in my head all the time, that's why I'm curious about how things will go in this new year. That's it, I guess." I said, still gazing at the sky.

"That's a nice way of putting it, I like it." Akira said smiling.

"Or maybe even new chalk in the classrooms!" Akane was still listing possible new things.

"Chalk?" I asked her.

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

"Okay." I said.

"I think we should hurry, we're almost late." Akira said as he looked at his watch.

"Oh no, you're right. Let's run!" I said.

"Okay!" and Akane was the first one running and dashing away. That girl had way too much energy in the morning.

"Haha, your sister is as cheerful as ever." both Akira and I started running as well.

"I sometimes wish she wouldn't be so much like my father, but I guess I can't change that fact." Akira sighed.

"Well, at least it's never boring when she's around, right?" I started laughing.

"I guess you're right, haha." Akira said while laughing as well. We continued running, we didn't want to be late on our first day in the new year. And as we did, a small breeze started blowing and cherry petals were flying around in the air. It seemed as if it was snowing pink blossoms, just like you'd see it in a manga.

I started jumping while running and was suddenly filled with energy as well, I was ready to tackle this new year.

"Woohoo! Let's go Akira! To beyond the sky!" I said as I passed Akira and looked back to him.

"Sora! Look out, there's a street la-" but I noticed too late and jumped right against it.

"…lamp." were the last words I heard before I passed out. The next thing I remembered was waking up in the school's infirmary, lying in a bed. The first thing I saw was how Aoi was sitting next to me.

"Aoi? What… what happened?" I asked her, my forehead was hurting.

"Airhead!" Aoi yelled at me while punching me in the chest.

* * *

"Okay, end of homeroom. Mayuri-san?" the teacher looked at me.

"Y-yes." I said nervously as I stood up. I was in a new class and I got the task of class duty on the very first day.

"Uhm… stand. Bow. Sit." I said and the class did as I said.

"Thank you, until tomorrow." the teacher said as she left the classroom. And as soon as she left, the students started standing up again and started chatting to each other. It was break time.

"Hey, Mayuri. Well done." Yuri said as he approached my desk, he got the seat right behind of me. When I noticed that we were in the same class I already got nervous, but when I saw that he would be sitting right behind of me I felt like screaming and crying at the same time.

"Th-thanks, Yuri." I said while blushing a bit. Yuri complimented me. I was happy.

"Lucky us that we got seats right next to the window, right?" he said.

"Yes, although it can become bothersome if the sun shines too much." I answered him.

"It could, yes." Yuri smiled.

"Oh, Mayuri-san?" suddenly the teacher's voice resounded through the room.

"Y-yes?" I stood up.

"Can you go check on Kageyama-kun in the infirmary? And bring him back if he's okay again? Thank you." and as sudden as she appeared she disappeared again.

"Ohh, right. Sora is still in there…" Akira said while leaning back on his chair and looking at me upside down.. He got the seat right in front of me.

"Why is he even there to begin with?" I asked Akira.

"Weeeell…" he stood up and joined Yuri and me who were sitting on the windowsill.

"We were kind of late and so we decided to start running and Sora didn't really look to where he was running and jumped right into a street lamp and then he passed out." Akira told us. Both Yuri and I had to start laughing out loud.

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't find it that funny if you were the one carrying him on your back all the way to school. And still arriving late." Akira said, he was laughing as well though.

"Oh lord, I can imagine Sora doing that." Yuri said.

"Totally." I said.

"Mayuri?" Akira was talking again.

"Hmm?"

"Shouldn't you go and look how he's doing?"

"Oh! Right! Be right back guys!" I said as I hopped down the windowsill and rushed out of the classroom. After a minute or so I reached the infirmary.

"Excuse the intrusiooooon…" I said as I entered the room.

"S-Sora? Are you here?" I whispered. I didn't want to wake up any sleeping person in the room.

"Mayuri, is that you? I'm here." I heard Sora's voice and followed it. And there he was.

"Hello there, how you doing Mr street lamp?" I asked the patient.

"Very funny, I'm okay. The pain in my head is gone. But now my chest hurts." he answered.

"Your chest?"

"Yes. Aoi punched me."

"Why did she punch you?"

"Because she's Aoi."

"Figures."

"Anyway, why're you here?" he finally asked me.

"Oh, right! You good to come back to class? Minamoto-sensei asked me to go check on you." I told him.

"Oh, she did? Well, I guess I can bear with it and-wait, we're in the same class?"

"Yup, together with Yuri and Akira."

"Awesome, let's go then!" he said and got up from the bed.

"Thank you for taking care of me." he said to the school nurse while we left the room. We returned to the classroom and when we entered it, Yuri and Akira approached us.

"Hey, you okay Mr street lamp?" Akira asked.

"Okay, did you guys agree upon this, or…?" Sora said and I started laughing.

"What's wrong Mayuri?" Yuri asked me.

"Nothing, everything's fine. Come on, next lesson is about to start." I said as I walked back to my desk.

"Hey, where's my seat?" Sora asked.

"Right next to mine." I said.

"Awesome!" he said as he sat down and soon after the teacher entered the classroom. I stood up again.

"Stand. Bow. Sit." I said again.

"Thank you Mayuri-san, let's start with the lesson then." Kunigawa-sensei said as he opened his textbook.

* * *

My chest was still hurting shortly before practice started. Just how strong is Aoi? But I had to bear with it, I couldn't miss the first practice of the year, we were all looking forward to it and were hoping for new first years. Right after classes had ended, Mayuri, Yuri and me headed to the sports hall, we were the last ones to arrive. All the others were already there.

"Ossu!" we three said at the same time as we entered.

"You're late, Sora!" Konoe said as soon as we entered.

"H-hello." Akihiko said.

"Hey, long time no see, Sora. You too, Mayuri, Yuri." Nobu said.

"Good day you three." Misaki said while stretching.

"Hey, where's Akira?" Akane asked finally?

"He'll bring the new first years." I answered.

"Awesoooooooooome!" was her answer. After that we all started warming up until Akira finally arrived with two new people.

"Okay everyone, I brought them here. Shinichi-kun, Mei-san, could you please introduce yourselves?" Akira said while looking at the new first years.

"H-he-hello. I'm Mei Sawamura, I'm 15 years old and I'd like to join the volleyball club. B-but not as a player, I'm not that good at sports, so I wanted to see if you could need another ma-manager. It's a pleasure to meet you all." she said as she bowed down, and when she did her hat fell down on the floor. She seemed to be pretty nervous and her hat falling down didn't help, but the guy standing next to her bowed down, took the hat into his hands and handed it back to her. After that he started speaking.

"Ossu! My name's Shinichi Yamaguchi, also 15 years old and I'm here to join the great team of Karasuno! It was always my dream to join this team, so let's have a good time! It's nice to meet you, please take care of me!" he said as he bowed down. He was quite the energetic fellow, not bad.

"Okay guys! Time for us to introduce ourselves as well, huh? Aoi! Kazuya! Stop your practice for a sec and come here, we have new team mates." Nobu yelled through the hall and soon after Aoi and Kazuya appeared and we all lined up.

"Well then, hi there. I'm Nobu Azumane, third year, 17 years old, Wing Spiker and current Captain of the Karasuno Volleyball Team." Nobu started.

"Hi, Aoi Kageyama is my name, third year too, 18 years old, Libero. That's it." my was actually the oldest one of us.

"Kazuya Tsukishima. Third. 18. Middle Blocker. Ace." he was a person of few words.

"Helloooo, I'm Misaki Sawamura! Third year, 17. I'm more of an all-rounder, so I don't have a specific position. Let's get along!" she was as cheerful as ever.

"Ossu, call me Konoe Tanaka-senpai. Second year, 16, Wing Spiker. Let's have some fun!" Konoe said with a scary smile, she really should stop doing that.

"Hellooooooooooo, I'm Akane Bokutoooo, nice to meet youuuu! I'm a second year, 17 years old and a Middle Blocker. Let's be friends!" she yelled at the new first years.

"H-h-h-he-heee…" was Akihiko's attempt on communicating with the new team, but he failed.

"In three, two, one… Konoe, Sora, now!" Nobu said instinctively and both Konoe and me caught the falling Akihiko. He lost consciousness because he was so nervous. He couldn't cope with new people, he needed his time. Mei and Shinichi seemed slightly shocked.

"Don't worry, that's just how he is, he'll be okay in a bit." Nobu said.

"Konoe, take him to… I don't know, somewhere he can lie down for a bit." he continued.

"Ossu, Nobu-senpai." Konoe said while carrying Akihiko like a prince would carry a princess, only that the roles were reversed. A surreal scene we all grew accustomed to. The new first years would too, eventually.

"Let's continue. Sora?" Nobu looked at me.

"Uhm, ossu! I'm Sora Kageyama. Second year. 16 years old, First Setter. Nice to meet you." I said with a smile. Mayuri was next.

"Hello, I'm Mayuri Kuroo. Also second year, 16 years old. Second Setter. Nice to meet you." she said.

"Hi, second year Yuri Haiba, nice to meet you. I'm 16 years old and I'm a Libero. Let's work hard together." he said as he bowed down.

"And I guess you already know Akira, but still. Akira, your turn." Nobu said.

"Well then. Akira Bokuto. Second year, 17 years old. Currently Karasuno's Manager. It's a pleasure to meet you two." he said and with that the introduction of everyone was done.

"Okay guys, let's start practice. Shinichi, join us. Akira, I'll leave Mei in your care, okay?" Nobu said full of energy.

"Okay Nobu-senpai." Akira answered.

"Wh-what? Just like that? No entrance test or something?" Shinichi was confused.

"Hmm? Test? What test? Let's play a game and see how you do in there, shall we Shinichi?" Nobu asked with a smile.

"O-okay!" Shinichi answered with a smile.

"Well then, in three, two, one… go!" Nobu counted down.

"Welcome to Karasuno!" we all yelled at the same time and Shinichi's and Mei's eyes started glowing brightly.


	3. Chapter 3 - Different pairings

Sora ni koete – Beyond the sky

Chapter 3 – Different pairings

Meanwhile the others started practise I sat down on the bench and waited for Akihiko to wake up again. He used to always fall unconscious when meeting someone new for the first time. He had this kind of problem since I first met him myself, there he had fallen unconscious as well, scaring all the kids in the neighbourhood. All except for me, at first I laughed at him, but soon I got curious about why he'd always lose consciousness, so I kept on meeting him and noticed that that problem wouldn't occur with people he already knew. I guess it was just because he was extremely shy. Which is surprising, considering how famous his mother Tooru Iwaizumi is.

After a few minutes he seemed to open his eyes again.

"Yo, Akihiko." I said to him while holding my face above his head.

"M-morning Konoe, where am I?" he answered confused.

"Morning? Akihiko please, it's after school and we're supposed to have practise now, so get _up_!" I said as I pulled him from his shoulders.

"Oh, okay." he got up after that.

"Seriously though, you should stop doing that." I told him while I got up from the bench.

"It's not like I want that to happen."

"I know. Did you try to get a check-up from a doctor or something?"

"No? Why should I? It's not like they would be able to help me and-"

"Well you never know."

"I'll think about it." he said after hesitating for a second.

"Anyway, want to get to know our two new team mates?" I asked finally.

"Uhm… only if you help me, Konoe." he said shyly.

"Akihiko, how old are you?"

"I'm 17."

"Idiot." I said while softly punching him on his chest and after that we both started laughing. Only a few seconds later Nobu-senpai called us to join practise already and we did as he said.

And even though Akihiko's problem still remains, it got less and less frequent one could say. Being something like his childhood friend, I know him for quite some time already and I can tell the differences; I spent almost all of my free time with him after all.

* * *

As soon as the professor stopped talking I immediately stood up and started putting everything into my bag and quickly left the lecture room. Akira had called me during the day. To be precisely he talked to me through Sora's phone and convinced me to buy lunch for Hana, but I managed to convince him to something as well; we'd meet up today and he'd come to my house. And after hearing that I had been excited for the rest of the day and now that the last lecture had finished I was ready to go pick him up from school.

"Where do you think you're running to and leaving me behind, huh?" a voice called out to me as soon as I reached my car. It was Hana's voice.

"I… uhm… I'll go pick up Akira and then-"

"I don't care at all what _you_ want to do. But you took me to university this morning and now you will take me back home." she said without even asking.

"But, as I said, I'll go pick up Akira at his school. That's a huge detour and-"

"Daiki. Take. Me. Home." this girl was such a handful to deal with.

"Okay, fine then! Get in the car already, I don't wanna be late." I said while opening the doors.

"Thank you, friend." she said while grinning.

"You're welcome, devil."

"What did you say?"

"N-nothing." I shut up and started the engine.

"Sooo? How was your day?" I asked her while driving.

"Is this again that small talk crap? Do you really need to do that every time?" she grumped.

"N-no, I just thought it'd be nice to talk about something while driving." I tried to begin some kind of conversation with Miss Grumpy herself.

"How about focusing on driving?"

"I am, I am very competent at multitasking."

"You? Multitasking? Since when?"

"Since always?" I replied, but she only raised one of her eyebrows, indicating me that we both knew that wasn't true.

"Okay! Since Akira forced me to." I started pouting.

"Daaaw, pouty Daiki is pouting." she said as she poked my left cheek.

"Could you not?" I pushed her hand away from my face.

"But it's so soft and wobbly." she started poking again.

"Hana!"

"Jeez, Daiki, you should go to the gym more often, your cheeks may even be _too_ wobbly."

"First of all, cheeks have to be soft and wobbly. Secondly, my body is very well-conditioned."

"You sure? Even Nobu being like two heads smaller than you has more muscles."

"Muscles don't have anything to do with well-conditioned bodies and at any rate, why are you judging me? The me who's so nice as to drive you home, even though it's a huge detour and I only want to meet up with Akira and-"

"Look, a cat! Punch!" she said and punched my shoulder.

"Ouch! Hana, what are you doing?!" it hurt more than I had imagined.

"There was a cat on the pavement, we're playing the cat game."

"Cat game?"

"Cat game."

"You just wanted an excuse to punch me, didn't you?"

"Maybe." she said with a devilish grin.

"Were you even listening to what I said?"

"Hmm? You were talking?"

"I give up." I said and focused on driving, it was hopeless effort to try to start an intelligent conversation with Hana if she didn't feel like talking, so I stopped trying.

After some minutes we finally arrived where I agreed on picking Akira up, in front of his school. He was already waiting at the entrance gates together with his sister Akane and Hana's little brother Sora. I stopped the car and opened the window on Hana's side.

"Akiraaaaa!" I called him.

"Hi Daiki, hello Hana-san." Akira said to both of us.

"Yo Akira." Hana replied.

"Ready to go?" I asked him.

"Sure. See you two tomorrow, bye." he said to Akane and Sora. And then I suddenly remembered that I had to drive Hana home, so Sora could just come along.

"Hey Sora, wanna join? I'm taking Hana home anyway, and since you're probably go-" I was interrupted by Hana; again pulling at my hair.

"Sadly there is no room for Sora anymore, so get going already." she said.

"What? Hana! Are you-" Sora wanted to say something.

"Daiki. _Drive._ Now." she continued pulling at my hair. I gave in.

"S-sorry Sora, but my hair is in danger." were the last words I said before I started driving away and Hana stopped pulling at my hair.

"Hana, you have a twisted personality." I said to her.

"Thank you."

"That was _not_ a compliment." I was feeling bad for Sora, having to deal with such a sister every day. Poor Sora.

* * *

During the entire time in between of when I got picked up and Daiki drove Hana to her home, the two of them were having a discussion. I tried to ignore them and spend my time reading a book. But after Hana had finally left, Daiki asked me if I wanted to change seats and sit in front next to him.

"Akira!" he said out of nowhere as I sat down next to him. After that he hugged me.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Do I get a ki-?" he asked and without letting him end his sentence I pressed my lips on his. He seemed to not have expected it and started blushing slightly.

"Daiki? Can you start driving now? I'm getting hungry." I said as I opened my book again.

"Sure!" he seemed to be happy about the kiss.

After a few minutes of driving we arrived at his house. His house was almost like a second home to me already, I spent so much time there. And I really like Daiki's family, they're not so… loud. And everyone was nice to me from the beginning. And because Daiki had a room for himself, unlike me, it was no problem to spend the night with him.

"We're back!" Daiki said as he opened the door.

"Welcome back!" I heard Koushi-san's voice from the kitchen. As usual he was already preparing dinner.

"Akira, gimme your bag, I'll bring it to my room. You can wait on the couch if you want." Daiki said as he took my bag and then went up the stairs. I did as he suggested and walked into the living room. As I got closer I started hearing music; probably Misaki was playing on the piano.

"Good evening Misaki, what are you playing?" I asked her.

"Oh, hello Akira. Nothing special, really. Just some melodies."

"Sounds beautiful nonetheless."

"Thank you." she said with a smile. When I looked around I saw Mei sitting on the old wooden rocking chair in front of the chimney. She was that focused on reading that she didn't notice me until I was standing next to her.

"Ah! A-Akira-senpai! H-hello." she said nervously.

"You don't have to call me that here, we already know each other well enough, right?" I said smiling.

"O-okay."

"What you reading?"

"Oh, it's a novel by Natsume Souseki." she said.

"Souseki? Fascinating."

"I-is that weird?"

"Not at all, I just haven't met other people around my age, let alone younger than me, that read Souseki too. Tell me what you think about it when you're done with it, okay?" I said as I wanted to pat her head, but then I noticed she was wearing a hat.

"Are you cold?" I asked her.

"Hm? No, why?"

"That's her home-hat." Daiki who had appeared out of nowhere said while sitting down on the couch.

"I see." I said giggling and sat down next to Daiki; he instantly hugged me.

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing, just feel like hugging you." he said while pressing his cheek on mine.

"Weirdo." I said as I flicked his forehead, he let go off me in fear.

"Ouch." he protected his forehead with his hands.

"I'm sorry, but I wanted to read a bit." I kissed him on his cheek.

"Can I hold your hand at least?" he looked at me with big eyes.

"Sure." I said smiling and he took my hand. We stayed like that for a while until dinner was ready and after we ate, the two of us went upstairs. The first thing I did when entering Daiki's room was sit on his bed and continue reading my book. But I wouldn't be able to continue for much more time, I heard how Daiki had locked the door.

Without a warning he jumped on the bed and hugged me from behind.

"Akiraaaa…" his arms were all around me and one of his hands found its way underneath my shirt. I already knew he wouldn't stop there, so I put my book aside, turned around and faced him.

"You cannot control yourself, can you?" I asked him while coming closer to his face.

"No, you're way too adorable." he whispered and suddenly hugged me. We started kissing and we forgot about everything else around us. After we had done it, Daiki was lying on the bed, taking a nap. I then grabbed my book again and continued reading, I would have some free time for the time being.

* * *

"I'm home." I said as I opened the door.

"Welco-Sora, what happened?" Aoi asked as she just seemed to be going upstairs. I was soaking wet, it had started pouring down a few minutes before I arrived home and I didn't take my umbrella with me.

"It's pouring down, that happened." I said while waking off my wet shoes, everything I was wearing was soaking wet.

"You know those things called umbrella? I heard they're quite convenient." Aoi said sarcastically.

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Essentially, my dear Watson."

"Where's Hana?" I asked Aoi and she pointed towards the couch in the living room.

"Hana! Look at me! Do you think it was fun to walk home in the rain? Even though you could've taken me along in Daiki's car? Would it had hurt you that much? Don't you have any regrets that your little brother might catch a cold? Huh? Answer me, Hana!" I started lecturing her, but she didn't seem to bother. But then she stood up from the couch, she was apparently lying on it, and I saw that she was wearing her headphones, meaning she didn't hear anything of what I had just said.

"Oh, Sora. Why are you wet?" she asked with her headphones still on her head.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed and left the living room again and suddenly a towel flew into my direction.

"Here. I run a bath for you, get in quickly before you catch a cold, I'll be making dinner. Mom and dad went out and won't be back for dinner, so hurry." Aoi said as she walked into the kitchen. So she could actually act like a big sister sometimes, I was fascinated and shocked at the same time; nonetheless I did as she told me and went upstairs to take a bath.

Because I wanted to watch some videos while taking a bath I took my phone with me, but before I could watch anything I got a text message from Mayuri.

[Sora! Soooora! SORA!] was written in it.

[Mayuri!] I replied.

[Sora!]

[Mayuri!?]

[Soraa…]

[Seriously Mayuri, what is it?]

[Oh, right. Sorry. Are you free next Saturday?] she asked finally.

[Uhm, I guess so. Why?]

[Great, then you'll accompany Yuri and me to the amusement park.]

[I will?]

[Pleeeaaase. Yuri asked me if I wanted to go, but I don't wanna be alone with him.]

[But it'd be like a date then. And you like him anyway.]

[T-t-t-that's n-not the point here, idiot.]

[But I'd feel like the third wheel.]

[Then ask Akira and Akane to come along.]

[Really?]

[Sora please! You're my best friend, it's your duty to help me when I'm in trouble.] she writing I was her best friend made me blush for some reason. I was happy to call Akira and her my best friends, they were very important to me.

[Okay, fine. I'll ask them.]

[Yay! Thank you Sora! Oh, but don't ask them in school. And don't talk about it either. That'd be weird for Yuri. Well okay, more for myself, but you get the idea.]

[Sure. Well then, see you tomorrow.]

[Okay, byebye.] marked the end of our little conversation.

I still had time to watch some videos before Aoi would call for dinner. I was kind of looking forward to Saturday, I wasn't in an amusement park for a long time already, that'd be a fun day I thought to myself.

And then, next Saturday came faster than I thought. And there we were standing, in front of the gates of the amusement park, all four of us. Mayuri, Yuri, me and Aoi. Things don't always turn out the way you want them to, never forget that.


	4. Chapter 4 - Amusement parks & disasters

Sora ni koete – Beyond the sky

Chapter 4 – Of amusement parks and other disasters

Have you ever thought about how much fun it'd be to visit an amusement park with your friends? I did, more than once, but I didn't think it'd happen in that constellation. I looked skywards and fixed the huge Ferris wheel that was one of the main attractions and simultaneously I asked myself how I ended up spending my Saturday accompanying my best friend to her date. If that weren't embarrassing enough, everything went from smoke to smother when my sister decided it'd be a good idea to tag along. And while I was lost in thought, someone suddenly pulled at my sleeve.

"Come on Sora, they're already going in." Aoi was the one pulling.

"Huh? Oh, right." I said as I started walking as well. I sighed.

"That's one big sigh, little brother. Something's wrong?" she asked me.

"Well, yes. I kind of don't understand why I have to come along to Mayuri's quasi date."

"Quasi?"

"According to her they're here as _friends_."

"I see."

"Well I just hope no one thinks of this as a double date or something when they see the four of us. I don't want people to think I'm going out with… _you_." I said while looking at my sister. I shivered because of more than one reasons. First of all, the mere idea of dating my sister or someone like her sent shivers down my spine. I prayed for all the poor souls that would fall in love with her. Another reason simply being that I only like men and everyone knowing me knows that as well. Funny enough, it's the same for my sister, she only likes women.

"Soraaa, we're here!" Mayuri yelled and waved with her hands. She was standing on a bench because the entrance of the amusement park was full of people and Mayuri didn't belong to the group of people you'd call 'tall'.

"Hey. Sorry, we got… distracted." I said as we approached them.

"We? You mean _you_ got distracted." Aoi said instantly.

"Well, doesn't matter. What shall we ride first, huh?" she asked us, her eyes twinkling full of excitement. She must have been really looking forward to that day.

"I don't know, I've never actually been to this amusement park before." I said.

"Oh, then how about we go to that one first?" Yuri said while pointing at the highest and most dangerous looking rollercoaster. I gulped in fear.

"S-say, why again did I agree to c-come here?" I asked with a slightly trembling voice.

"Ohh, did you finally remember you're no good with rollercoasters and attractions of that kind? I was wondering when you'd notice." Aoi said with a smile on her face.

"Oh no, are you afraid of heights, Sora?" Yuri asked me.

"N-no! I just don't really like… high and… sh-shaky, dangerous looking things."

"Don't worry, the rollercoasters are all tested and nothing ever happened. At least not in this particular park, haha." Yuri explained.

"Uhm, what?" my fear didn't really lower because of what he said, if anything else, I tensed up even more.

"Come on, lil' bro, it'll be fuuuun." Aoi said.

"Yeah, fun for you when you see how I'm suffering."

"I never said who the one having fun will be."

"You won't even deny it?!"

"Nope." she said with a devilish grin.

"If you want you can wait until we're done, Sora." Mayuri said finally. But now I had to protect my pride, Aoi couldn't be allowed to win.

"N-no. It's fine, I'll come with you three. I can do this." I said as confident as I could.

"Cool, then let's go." Mayuri said with a smile.

After that we enqueued in the already existing queue. While we were waiting there I looked around me. Everyone in the queue seemed to be looking forward, everyone except for me. I could never truly understand why people are attracted to rollercoasters and the kind, I probably never will. I'm a person that doesn't seek danger, I prefer safer situations. While I was thinking about where I'd want to be more than there at that moment, Aoi seemed to take notice of my nervousness and patted my head.

"You okay?"

"Y-yes."

"Really?"

"Okay no, not at all." I was obviously distressed.

"Don't worry, it'll be over faster than you think." she tried to help me calm down. At the same time a group of people came from the rollercoaster's direction, I assumed they had already been on it.

"Whoa! That was so amazing!" a man said.

"I was a little scared when that looping came though." a woman next to him said. My eyes widened in fear and I looked at Aoi.

"Y-you know, they're older than you. You're rather young, it's okay to be afrai-"

"Daddy, that was so cool! Can we ride it again?" a child of about ten years said to his father, both coming from the same direction as the two before. I looked back at Aoi again. She put her hands onto my shoulders and looked at me.

"The exception proves the rule." she said monotonously. I felt like crying.

After another few minutes it was time for us to get on it too.

"Oh oh, come on let's let the boys sit in front, Mayuri." Aoi said as she sat down.

"Wh-what?! I… don't _you_ wanna…" I tried to convince Mayuri otherwise.

"Nah it's okay Sora, you can take the seat." Mayuri said as she sat down next to my demonic sister.

"Cool, let's go, Sora." Yuri said. The four of us were sitting, waiting until it started moving and after a few seconds it moved and my heart skipped a beat.

"Hey, did you know? Some of the first rollercoasters ever made were still too slow, resulting in that if people riding it wouldn't hold onto the wagon properly, they could fall down while the wagon was in the looping." Yuri explained calmly as the wagon moved skywards.

"I'd like to get off of this. Please." I said in fear.

"Hehe, too late lil' bro." I heard a voice from behind.

"Damn you Aoi, you're gonna pay for thiiiiiiii-" and before I could finish my sentence the wagon rushed down with all its speed.

* * *

"Akane, care to tell me again why we're here?" I asked her while we were standing in the queue.

"Because this is the only day they're selling the SSLACE of the game I want so bad, Akira!" she told me.

"Excuse me?"

"The Super Special Limited Anniversary Collector's Edition, duh!"

"I understand."

"Really?"

"Actually no, but let's pretend I do. Continue."

"And they're only selling it in this particular store and if I can't buy it I'll be really really sad, okay?" she seemed desperate.

"And why did I have to tag along on my free Saturday? You know that Sora invited us to go to the amusement park."

"Yes, but… THE SSLACE." she grabbed my shoulders and shook my entire body.

"You're really excited, aren't you?"

"How did you notice?!" she let go of me again and we both shut up for the next few minutes. The queue didn't seem to get smaller at all, we were already waiting for about an hour.

"And you're really sure that this is the right place, Akane?" I wanted to confirm it.

"I am almost absolutely sure, captain!" she said while saluting.

"Did you just say 'almost'?"

"Pff, noo! You must have misheard things. Silly Akira, hahaha." her fake laugh didn't really help supporting her bad lie.

"Akane…" I couldn't help but sigh.

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

Another 30 minutes passed until we finally saw the front door of the shop.

"See Akira?! Do you see all the posters on the windows? I told you I was right, ha!" Akane said, I guessed she must have felt victorious and relieved at the same time.

"Now we just have to wait. Again."

"Oh come on, Akira. It'll be fun!" she said while putting her arms up in the air.

"…sure." I wasn't convinced.

"Come on, it can't get worse!" she said with a smile.

"Let's hope it's not sold out or someth-" I said jokingly when Akane interrupted me.

"No no no no, don't jinx it now!"

"Don't worry Akane, as if they wouldn't have enough of those-"

"Dear customers, we're terribly sorry for the inconveniences, but the Super Special Limited Anniversary Collector's Edition of Toxic Square Dancing Revenge has been sold out. Please visit us next week again, thank you for your understanding." a voice coming from a loudspeaker on the wall said.

"Noooooooooooooo…" Akane screamed and fell down on her knees.

"Creepy." I said as I stared at the loudspeaker. When I noticed something pulling from my jeans I looked down and saw Akane clinging to me as if she just had received the worst news ever.

"Whyyyyyyyy…" she kept on screaming.

"You'll just have to come back next week." I tried to calm her down and patted her head.

"Everything just went from worse to worser!"

"That's not a word, but continue."

"Akiraaaaaaaaaa…"

"Oh my…" I sighed.

* * *

Yuri and I were sitting at a table and eating popcorn while we were waiting for the other two. After we got off from the rollercoaster Sora ran straight to the toilets. He probably didn't really enjoy it after all. Aoi said she'd go and look after him for a while so Yuri and me could get something to eat.

"Did you like it?" Yuri suddenly asked.

"H-huh?" I startled, I was lost in my thoughts.

"Did you like that ride on the rollercoaster?" he asked again with big twinkling green eyes and a smile on his face. I remember the first time I met him, the first thing I noticed were his bright green eyes that seemed to glow. It didn't take a long time until I fell for him, but I haven't made any process or whatsoever. I'm just too shy.

"Uhm, y-yes, I did. Thanks."

"Why are you thanking me?"

"I… just… I don't know…" I said while looking down.

"You're very odd, Mayuri, but…" he stopped.

"B-but what?"

"But that's what I like about you." he said giggling.

"I-idiot." I blushed.

"Hi there." Aoi said while walking towards our table, but Sora wasn't with her.

"Where's Sora?" I asked curiously.

"Still… uhm… let's say occupied, you two are eating." she laughed after saying that. I imagined the situation, shivered and shove my popcorn away, I had lost my appetite.

"Shall we wait for him then?" Yuri asked.

"Nah it's okay, you two go have fun until I he comes back, I'll wait for him. Let's meet up later, 'kay?" Aoi asked while pointing at my popcorn. I guessed she was asking if she could eat it now that I didn't want anymore. I nodded and she started eating; I shivered again.

"If you say so, then let's go, Mayuri!" Yuri said as he stood up and stretched out his hand, reaching for mine. I looked at his hand, then looked at his face, then back at his hand. But he only smiled and waited until I would reach out for his hand. When I looked at Aoi she only winked as she continued eating. Then I looked at Yuri's face once again and he was smiling, his eyes looking right into mine.

"O-okay." I said shyly and took his hand and the two of us left.

While we were walking around the amusement park none of us said anything, we were just holding hands and I was happy and relieved, I wouldn't have known what to say in a situation like that. The sun was already setting and bathed the air in colours ranging from yellow, orange, red and even slightly pink. After a few minutes Yuri stopped walking, he had been pulling me along all the way. And then he finally broke the silence.

"Let's ride that, Mayuri." he said as I looked up and noticed we were standing in front of the Ferris wheel. I didn't say anything and only nodded. We entered one of the cabins and the Ferris wheel started moving. I was gazing through the window and was mesmerized by the beautiful view. Everything was bathed in those warm colours.

"You like it?" Yuri suddenly said and startled me, I had almost forgotten about him while looking at the view.

"Yes! It's beautiful!" I said honestly.

"I'm glad you like it. Whenever I'm up here in the Ferris wheel and the sun is setting, bathing everything in these colours, it reminds me of your eyes, they have the same warm colour, hehe." he said almost whispering. I couldn't help but blush at those pretty words, I didn't expect him to say something like that.

"Uhm… I… I-i…" I was at a loss of words.

"That's why I wanted to show this to you once. Thanks for coming along today, Mayuri." he said while leaning forward. My eyes widened and I started blushing more, and then he kissed me on my right cheek.

* * *

When I left the toilets I only saw my sister sitting there on her own, Mayuri and Yuri nowhere to be seen. I sat down next to her and asked her about the two of them.

"Where are they?"

"Dunno, beats me." she said as she continued eating.

"Uhm…"

"Want some?"

"…no." I didn't want to eat for the next three weeks.

"Wanna go on another rollercoaster?" Aoi asked suddenly.

"Do I look like I want to?"

"You look like I want you to want it."

"No." I didn't plan to ride any more of those demonic devices for as long as I lived. Aoi didn't seem to mind, seeing as she ordered something else to eat, so we decided to just stay there and wait for the others to return.

The sun had already set and Mayuri and Yuri still hadn't come back.

"You think they're okay?" I asked Aoi.

"Sure, what should happen to them? This is an amusement park, Sora. Not some kind of suburb where it's dangerous to be on the streets at night."

"You could've just said yes, but thank you."

Just as I was about to text them my phone started ringing. It was a call from Akira.

"What's up Akira?"

"Hey Sora, you free tomorrow?" he asked.

"Uhm, sure? Why?"

"I need a break fro-" there were some noises on Akira's side and I couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Akira?"

"SORA I DIDN'T GET THE SSLACE! I NEED TO WAIT FOR-"

"Akane, gimme my phone back!"

"But since you don't understand, Sora needs to know!"

"Akane!" apparently they were having some kind of little argument. Since I already knew them for a long time I just waited until they were done.

"Look Akane, there's a sweets store over there! Here, money! Go buy something!" Akira said and I heard a faint 'yay' from Akane. Akira's attention went back to me.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"It's okay, seems you two had lots of fun, huh?" I wanted to tease him.

"…let's not talk about it."

"So you wanna come over tomorrow?" I asked him.

"Yes. Please."

"Sure, no thing."

"Thanks Sora. How was your day by the way?"

"…let's not talk about it."

"Sorry, I need to go, Akane seems to be screaming at the owner of the store. See you tomorrow then." he said, followed by a sigh and then he hang up.

"Something's wrong?" Aoi asked.

"Nothing, but Akira will come over tomorrow." I said and at the same time Mayuri and Yuri had come back.

"Yo, so you're finally back?" Aoi asked.

"Yup, sorry." Yuri said.

"I don't mind."

"Are you okay Mayuri? Your face is all red." I asked her.

"E-everything's fine, I d-don't know what you mean. It's not like s-something happened or anything." she was blushing and stuttering, something _must_ have happened.

"Well then, shall we continue? The night's still young!" Yuri said suddenly.

"I'll pass." I said.

"I'm hungry." Aoi said. How was she even hungry, she has been eating all the time.

"Shall we go eat together somewhere then?" Yuri continued.

"Sounds nice, let's go!" Aoi was the first one to stand up. She grabbed Yuri by his arm and pulled him along as they started walking.

"S-sora?" Mayuri said whispering.

"Yes?"

"Can we meet tomorrow? I need to talk."

"Sure, want to come over? Akira's coming too though..."

"That's okay, you two can know. More like you have to know, I need to tell someone."

"What in the world happened, Mayuri?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Uhm, okay."

"Good, let's go." she said and we followed my sister and Yuri.

After that rather disastrous day I was looking forward to spending the next day with my two best friends. And I was curious about what Mayuri wanted to tell us so badly.


	5. Chapter 5 - Prince, court jester and?

Sora ni koete – Beyond the sky

Chapter 5 – Prince, court jester and…?

I had told Mayuri and Akira they could come at around 10am, but knowing Akira he'd be here like 15 minutes in advance. Knowing Mayuri she'd be here like 15 minutes too late. Deciding on a time with them is rather difficult.

Luckily mom and dad weren't home for the day and Aoi had to take care of some business, so the only obstacle left was Hana. I'd prefer it if she wouldn't be at home when the two came over, but getting Hana out of the house when she doesn't have to go outside isn't as easy as it may seem to be. Hana may not look like it, but she's really an inside-type of human. She prefers staying at home over going out. She's a person who could spend the entire day reading and she wouldn't get bored. Therefore my first mission of the day before Akira and Mayuri arrived, was to make Hana leave the house.

"Good morning Hana, isn't today a lovely day?" I said to her when I saw her in the kitchen, eating cereals.

"What do you want?" she answered immediately. She was as grumpy as ever, alright.

"Nothing, can't a brother greet his beloved big sister on a sunny day as today?" I looked at her with big sparkling eyes and a wide smile.

"Okay what did you do?" she was doubting my very words.

"Nothing, can't a-"

"Sora!"

"…fiiiine. Is there any possibility you could leave the house today? Akira and Mayuri are coming over." I asked her.

"And why do I need to leave if friends of my brother come to the house I live in?"

"Because we'd really like to have some time for our own? Mayuri wanted to discuss something with us, and whenever she asks like that it's mostly something serious." I tried to convince her with my spontaneously made up lie.

"Is that so, than wouldn't it be better to meet at her home instead?" she had a point.

"Y-yes, maybe, but, you know… she… uhm…she really likes our… sofa?" I said, knowing how stupid it sounded. Hana raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Oh come on Hana, please? Can't you meet Daiki or something?" I asked her again.

"I could, but what if I don't wanna?"

"Hanaaaa…" I was about to give up when my saviour entered the house and rushed into the kitchen.

"Oh good, you're still here Hana." Aoi said out of breath.

"And what do _you_ want?" Hana sighed and stopped eating.

"I really need to go to the community hall to hand in a form, but there's some kind of incident and the bus won't drive. Could you drive me there please?" Aoi looked desperate.

"…fiiiine. I'll drive you. Gimme five minutes to change."

"You don't have to, you can stay in the car and-"

"I'll change, you're gonna treat me to something afterwards, okay?"

"Uhm, okay." Aoi looked surprised and I was saved. And exactly five minutes after Hana went upstairs she came back down.

"Alright Sora, take care of the house while we're gone. I hope you're happy…" Hana said as she opened the front door and stepped outside.

"I owe you one, Aoi!" I yelled.

"You… huh?" Aoi was confused.

"Hurry up!" I heard Hana screaming.

"Coming!" Aoi yelled back and closed the door.

My plan did work, more or less. Now I just had to wait for the two to arrive and then we'd be spending a relaxing day together.

* * *

I still had 30 minutes left before I needed to go, I didn't want to come late. In my opinion, it's always best to arrive earlier than the appointed time; that way there's no risk to run late. But knowing Mayuri she'd be probably late, again, like she always was. Akane was still sleeping in her bed, I tried my best not to wake her up. As harsh as it sounds, I didn't want her to come along today. First of all, she wasn't that much friends with Mayuri and secondly, I really needed a break from what had happened the day before. I silently walked out of our room and went downstairs.

"Oh ho ho, already awake?!" dad asked.

"Yes, I'll meet Sora and Mayuri today."

"How about Akane?" he asked, not turning away from the TV; he was watching a volleyball game.

"She's still in bed."

"I see. Keiji made breakfast before he left to go shopping, so serve yourself."

"Alri-"

"Wait she's in bed?!" he suddenly turned back as if he had heard bad news.

"Y-yes, she is."

"Is she ill?!" he said worried.

"No dad she's no-I mean, yes. Akane's ill." I didn't like lying to my parents, but I figured it'd be easier if he thought she was ill and tried to keep her in bed. And since dad isn't the, let's say brightest bulb concerning these things, it would somehow work.

"Oh no, just when Keiji went out! What do we do Akira?!"

"Nothing dad, she just needs some rest, that's all."

"R-really?" he looked relieved.

"Really! So you just need to make sure she doesn't leave her bed. And whenever she tries to tell you that she isn't ill, don't listen to her. That's just her… uh, ill consciousness speaking… yeah, that." I asked myself if I sounded convincing enough to make dad believe me, but after looking at him and seeing his concentrated face, I knew he had fallen for it.

"Alright Akira, leave the rest to daddy! Anything else I need to consider?" he asked.

"No, not really. You'll do just fine, I believe in you, dad." I said as I patted him on his head. Sometimes I felt like I was the parent and he the child. And at the same time I heard noise coming from above.

"Akira?!" I heard Akane saying, while sounds of steps were getting louder and louder. Akane had woken up.

"O-okay dad! I gotta go now." I said quickly.

"But what about breakfast?"

"I'll, uhm, eat something at Sora's place, don't worry, I-"

"Akira, where are you goin-" Akane wanted to ask as she was standing on the stairs, but I had already opened the door.

"I'm off, see you later!" I said.

"Ahhhh, Akane, you need to stay in your bed!" dad said.

"Huh, why?" was the last thing I heard before I closed the door behind of me. I was relieved that it somehow worked, took my phone out of my pocket and called Sora.

"Akira?" he asked.

"Hi, sorry for calling but… just wanted to say that I'm on my way."

"Already?"

"Yeah, I… Akane has bad timing." I said.

"Uhu…" Sora didn't seem to understand.

"Anyways, I'll be there in a bit. Is that okay?"

"Sure, I was about to eat breakfast though…"

"Cool, then I'll join you, I'm hungry."

"Haven't you eaten anything?"

"I'll explain it when I'm there."

"Alright then."

"Thanks." I hung up and started walking to the bus stop. I looked up to the sky and sighed in relief.

* * *

I decided that today would be the day I wouldn't arrive late like I always did and therefore I woke up earlier than normal. I got dressed and ready to head out, walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen.

"Morning sweetie, already up?" dad said while putting down the newspaper he was reading.

"Morning dad! Yes, I'll go over to Sora's. Akira will be there too and I didn't want to be late, so I woke up earlier!" I said full of pride.

"Sounds nice! So, want some breakfast?" he asked.

"Sure, I feel like eating a-" before I ended my sentence I saw dad take out the toaster from a cupboard. I rolled with my eyes.

"Something wrong, Mayuri?"

"He didn't wak-"

"Not yet, no."

"So you're gonna make breakf-"

"Yeah."

"And I'll have to-"

"Looks like it."

Silence was in the air.

"Toast?" dad finally asked.

"It's okay, I'll eat something on the way, I have enough time left before I need to be there." I said as I walked out of the kitchen and towards the front door.

"You have enough money?" he followed me.

"I think so, should be enough for a melon bread or something." I said as I put on my shoes.

"Here." he said while stretching out his hand. In his hand was a 1000 yen bill.

"Thanks daddy!" I said while hugging him.

"You're welcome sweetie. And now get going, we both know how easily you get lost."

"I will prove today that Mayuri Kuroo can make it on time if she really wants!" I said as I opened the door, stepped out and closed it behind of me. After walking a few steps I turned back and opened the door again.

"You forgot your bag, right?" dad said with a smirk on his face while leaning onto the wall.

"N-no? I left it there on purpose… because of… reasons?"

"I see. Well, have fun!" he said as he turned back and walked into the kitchen again.

"Bye bye." I said and closed the door a second time that morning.

* * *

The doorbell rang and Akira and me both went to the door. When I opened it a Mayuri out of breath was standing there, resting her arms on her knees, panting like she just had finished a marathon.

"I'm… ha… ha… here… tired…" she said while panting.

"You're late." was Akira's response.

"I… haa… have a perfectly good excuse… for that…"

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Do I look okay?" she seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"No, you look late." Akira added.

"Aaaaanyways, why don't we sit down and continue this there?" I pulled her into the house and closed the door again. I went to the kitchen and took the tray with the drinks.

"We can sit on the couch, no one's home toda-" as I was talking Mayuri fell down on the couch.

"O-or lie down, that's okay too." I added. I put the tray on the table and handed a glass to Mayuri. She sat up and drank it in one go. Akira took a glass as well, sat down on the armchair and crossed his legs.

"So?" he asked finally, weird mafia boss-like vibes coming from him.

"As I said, I have a perfectly good excuse." she said and started explaining the situation she was in that morning.

"So you got lost while looking at your phone? You mean, like always?" Akira asked finally.

"…yeah." she answered slowly.

"And that's a perfectly good excuse, because why?"

"Well… at least you know I'm not lying?" she had a point. But Akira only put his hand on his forehead and let out a deep sigh.

"Anyways, now she's here. Everything's fine!" I said to change topics.

"Right!" Mayuri smiled.

"Sooo, what did you want to talk about" I asked her.

"Oh, right. Riiiight. Uh, where to start. So, yesterday. Like you may know already, Akira, we went to the amusement park. Yuri, Aoi, Sora and me." Mayuri started talking.

"I know, Sora told me." Akira said.

"Okay. Well and then at one point Sora had to go to the toilets becau-"

"Mayuri I think you don't need to add that to the story." I interrupted her.

"Right, sorry. So Aoi, Yuri and I were sitting there, waiting for Sora, and then all of a sudden Yuri wanted to lead me somewhere. Aoi said she'd wait for Sora, so we could do what we wanted. So then Yuri took my hand and we walked around for some time. After a while he told me wanted to ride the Ferris wheel, so we did. And when we were at the highest point he first told me how my eyes remind him of the sunset and then he kissed me." Mayuri had closed her eyes when she reached the end of her story.

"Huh, that guy's not half bad, more than I expected." Akira said.

"Whoa! See?! I told you he likes you too!" I added.

"B-but, he didn't say anything else afterwards!" Mayuri continued.

"And you?" I asked.

"As if I was able to do or say anything after something like that!"

"Ask him out on a date." Akira said bluntly.

"Wh-what?!" Mayuri blushed.

"If you don't do something, nothing'll happen, you know?" he said.

"Bu… but just asking him… I… How?!" Mayuri hid her face behind a cushion.

"Just ask him in school. Or write him a text, or better, just call him. It's not that difficult."

"Well you have it easy, Akira, you already have your prince." she said.

"Aaawww, Yuri is your prince?" I asked Mayuri, she was acting too cute.

"Huh, I wouldn't really call Daiki a prince." Akira said.

"Oh, what then?" I asked him.

"Rather than a prince, Daiki is more like a… court jester." he said finally.

"…wow." Mayuri said.

"Poor Daiki." I said.

"And what are you?" Mayuri asked.

"I'm the king of course." Akira said.

"I wonder what Daiki thinks about this." I asked myself.

"Oh, I can ask him. Wait a sec, I'll text him." Akira said as he pulled out his phone from his pocket. After roughly a minute the answer came.

"'Akira is my one and only king!'" Akira showed me the message and I read it aloud.

"Aww, that's… kind of cute. I guess?" Mayuri said.

"You've trained him well, huh?" I said.

"Anyways, ask him out. End of discussion." Akira said.

"I wonder when I'll meet my prince. Or my court jester. Or my whatever." I grabbed a cushion and hugged it.

"Maybe sooner than you'd think." Akira said as he stood up and walked into the kitchen to refill his glass.

"Why do you say that?" I asked him.

"Just a hunch!" I heard him yell from the kitchen.

"Soraaaaa, what should I do?!" Mayuri asked.

"About what?"

"About Yuri!"

"Oh, I agree with Akira. Just ask him on a date. That'd be the easiest way, wouldn't it?"

"Y-yes, but… still."

"Should I ask talk to him first?"

"Wh-what? About what?"

"About you, obviously."

"I don't know if that's a good idea…" Mayuri was unsure.

"I think it's a perfect idea. We have PE on Monday, right?" Akira came back.

"Yup." I answered.

"Great, then we'll ask him then. Girls have swimming lessons then, right?" he looked at Mayuri.

"Y-yes, but. No. Don't talk to him, why would you-"

"Too late, it's already decided." I said.

"You heard him." he said and we bumped our fists.

"Nooohoooo…" Mayuri yelled into the cushion and let herself fall down on the couch. After that we continued talking until we got hungry and then we made lunch. In the afternoon we played some games and continued talking and the day ended just like that and both of them went home. Shortly afterwards Hana and Aoi came back home.

"We're back!" Aoi said as she opened the front door.

"Welcome back." I said while lying on the couch, reading a book.

"I'm hungry!" I heard Hana say.

"Yes yes, I'll make you something right now, don't worry." Aoi said and entered the kitchen. Hana came to the living room and stopped in front of me.

"Hi Hana." I said without looking away from my book.

"Move." she said.

"Huh?"

"Move!" she repeated angrily. I jumped up scared and Hana sat down next to me. I was struggling if it was a good idea to talk to her or to better leave her alone.

"…you okay?" I asked finally.

"Shut it!" she said as she turned on the TV.

I slowly stood up, closed my book and backed off from her, joining Aoi in the kitchen.

"Uhm, is she…" I wanted to ask Aoi what had happened.

"Ah, nothing, don't worry, we met Daiki and he insisted on spending the day with us." Aoi said with a laugh while cutting some vegetables.

"Oh, I see. Need help?" I asked her.

"Sure, thanks!" she said and told me what to do.

"I'll better not ask about your day then." I said.

"Yeah, don't. How was yours? Did you talk about whatever you talked about? I heard from Hana."

"Yeah, talked about princes, court jesters… the normal stuff." I said. She looked at me with a worried expression.

"Okay I think my little brother has lost it completely." she said and I started laughing.

I still didn't know what Akira meant with his hunch, but I was curious as to what would happen from now on. And I couldn't wait to ask Yuri about Mayuri, that would be fun.


End file.
